Folding seat



29, R. BLAKE mmm@ sufi Filed 061. 17, fissa Patented Apr. 29, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- FOLzIShTgir;GSSEACIv V Robert Blake, St. Louis, Mo.

1 Claim.

This invention relates to foldable seats, and its general object is to provide a seat that includes a pair of like members hingedly connected together to be folded one upon the other, in compact form, with handles therefor, so that the seat can be easily and conveniently carried from place to place and when disposed to unfolded position, either member provides a bottom or seat portion and the other a back rest and both are amply padded or upholstered for the convenience of the user, as well as additionally connected together, to limit the unfolded position thereof, so that the member providing the back rest will be held in a position to properly support the back of the user.

A further object is to provide a foldable seat of the character set forth, that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and extremely efficient in operation, use and service.

This invention also consists in Icertain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the seat which forms the subject matter of the present invention, in open or unfolded position.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 2-2 of Figure 1,looking in the direction of the arrows, and illustrates the member used as a back rest, in open position in full lines and in folded position in dotted lines.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary View looking in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, it will be noted that my seat includes identical members I and 2 'of substantially rectangular configuration, with the outer corners thereof cut-away as at 3, and each member'includes a body panel 4 and a metallic marginal frame 5 of channel formation, for the panel, with the edge portions of the panel mounted in the channel of the frame and secured accordingly by rivets or the like 6.

Each member is also amply upholstered and for that purpose I provide padding 1 and a cover 8 therefor formed from any suitable material such as leather or fabric, the cover having its marginal edge portions disposed labout the like Cil .edge portions of the panel and fixed to the latter by the frame 5 and rivets 6 as will be apparent upon inspection of Figure 3. The padding is preferably built-up toward the center of the members and gradually decreases in thickness therefrom toward the edges thereof in rounded formation, as shown.

The members I and 2 are connected together in a manner whereby the ends thereof having the cut-away corners are disposed outermost, and secured to the inner ends of the members by rivets or the like 9 are strips Ill that are co-extensive with the length of the inner ends and have xed thereto by certain of the rivets 9 the leaves of hinges I I, so that it will be seen that the members are hingedly connected to be folded one upon the other or to be disposed substantially at right e angles to each other when in unfolded position as sho-wn in full lines in Figure 2, for one of said members to provide a bottom or seat portion and the other a back rest. y

The members are limited in their movement to unfolded position by straps I2 that act as braces and which have their ends secured to the frames of the respective members, so that the straps bridge the members when in open or unfolded position, as best shown in Figure 1, and the straps are formed from some suitable flexible material such as leather or the like, so that they will become looped upon themselves for disposal between the members when the latter are in folded position. f

Secured to the outer or free ends of the members I and 2 and preferably by certain of the rivets 6, asl shown, are the ends of straps arranged in looped formation to provide a bail type handle I3 for each of the members which when disposed to folded position the handles will be in close proximity to each other and thereby can be readily gripped to hold the seat in folded position and to easily and conveniently carry the same from place to place, as will be apparent.

From the above description and disclosure of the drawing, it is believed that it will be obvious' that either of the members I and 2 provides a bottom or seat portion, and the other a back rest, when in unfolded position, and of coursethe seat portion is mounted upon suitable supporting means, while the back rest is held substantially at right anglesi thereto .through the medium of the braces I2 to amply support the back of the l user when seated upon the bottom or seat portion.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.x

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall Within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A foldable seat comprising a pair of substantially rectangular members, each including a body panel having the corners at the outer ends thereof cut away, upholstering material for each panel and including a padding and a covering therefor, a marginal channel frame for and surrounding each panel and having the edge portions of the latter and the cover mounted and secured. Within the channel, strips secured along the inner ends of said members, leaf hinges having their leaves secured to said strips for connecting said members together to be folded one upon the other and to be unfolded for either of said members to provide a seat and the other a back rest, flexible straps having their ends secured to each member adjacent to the hinged ends thereof for limiting the unfolding movement of said mem` bers for disposal thereof substantially at right angles to each other, and a flexible strap for each member and secured tothe outer end thereof to provide bail type handles cooperating with each other for holding and carrying said members in folded position.

ROBERT BLAKE. 

